


Summer Nights

by 3rdgymmanager



Series: Springtime in Sendai [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Awkward Tsukishima Kei, Childhood Friends, F/M, POV Tsukishima Kei, Pining Tsukishima Kei, Tsukishima Kei is Bad at Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:33:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25798978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/3rdgymmanager/pseuds/3rdgymmanager
Summary: Kei Tsukishima, now in college is reacquainting himself with a childhood friend. Old feelings that he has long shoved aside resurface as a birthday dinner becomes charged. Will he able to confront his feelings for her?
Relationships: Tsukishima Kei/Original Female Character(s), Tsukishima Kei/Reader
Series: Springtime in Sendai [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1862608
Kudos: 9





	Summer Nights

**Author's Note:**

> Notes: Kaori Miyahara is an original character, but readers are free to put themselves into her shoes! There will be more chapters to come and let me know if you have any feedback or if you want to be in the taglist. 
> 
> genre: romance, angst, friends to lovers, lowkey nsfw (wc: 5072 lol)

Summer (July) || Sendai City || 2018

It was a warm summer evening in July. The gentle summer breeze swirled with a bit of humidity plied on Kei Tsukishima’s skin as he made his way into the train station. Usually buying a strawberry shortcake was an errand he readily undertook, but the day has been long and he was hungry that he was almost ready to neglect his errand. Besides, the anxiety building at the pit of his stomach as he walked towards the store was of no help.

As he selected a cake from the display stand, Tsukki tried to shake off his nerves. He was tired, worn and a little bit sticky, but today required special effort. Today was Kaori Miyahara’s birthday and he promised himself that he would surprise her with her (and his) favorite cake. He saw her regularly around the Sendai University campus, but he only ever hung out with her on Sundays. Today was Tuesday.

Tsukki was a second year college student playing professional volleyball in the Division 2 league. Since school was out, the training hours have extended themselves into the day. His schedule looked similar to a signed professional’s during his breaks, testing his stamina and his patience to their limits. His sport was fun, but sometimes it could be draining and Tsukki was the type of athlete who needed to rest.

The shopkeeper asked if he needed anything else. He requested for a candle to which she willingly obliged. He paid for his purchase and briskly walked in the direction of Kaori’s apartment which was located in a nearby residential street. He found his feet taking him into a dark brown door with a single pale of light lighting the doorstep. He rang the doorbell door.

A girl that barely hit the height of his chest opened the door. The smell of a maturing dinner wafted out into his Tsukki’s nose. He could hear the sizzling of meat and smell freshly cooked rice.

“Tsukki!” exclaimed a surprised Kaori. She looked like she just got home; she was still dressed in training shorts and her team shirt. Kaori trained with their university’s rhythmic gymnastics team.

“I didn’t expect you’d be dropping by,” she said. Her cheeks were flushed from the heat of the cooking, but her face looked drained. She too looked like she had a long day.

“I came over to drop this off. Happy birthday.” he said, handing her the paper bag containing the cake box. He tried to be cheerful in his tone, but Tsukki had never been great at being sunny.

“Thank you!” she smiled brightly, ”You really shouldn’t have-“ She stopped midway to take her cooking out of her pan and throw her windows open before rushing back to the door. The smoke from her pan had quickly filled her small room.

“You really shouldn’t have! I’m sorry to have caused you trouble on a weekday, I know how hard training is lately. Anyways, have you eaten dinner yet? Is your brother home for dinner?” she asked, with one hand holding the cake and another hand fanning herself. She had forgotten to put it down on her table.

Tsukki lived with his brother who was working in the city. They usually made dinner together.

Tsukki shook his head, “He’ll be out tonight. I’ll be heading home to get started on dinner. Sorry to bother you, I hope I didn’t distract from your cooking.” He shrugged his shoulders and put his hands in his pocket, slightly embarrassed that he had caused a ruckus in her home.

“Why don’t you stay over for dinner? I’ll make a little more teppanyaki beef. Okasan came over last weekend and she brought over enough food to stuff my fridge.” she said, ushering him in. Tsukki tried not to show that the smoke lightly fogging his glasses was bothering him. 

Tsukki put down his bag and put himself to work. He filled two bowls with rice, plated some pickles and vegetables and helped her set the table as she made more beef. Kaori seemed to have run out of miso paste, so instead he made soup from powdered miso from her cupboard. This was the first time he’d been inside her home in the city.

While he helped her prepare their dinner, he quietly observed her little apartment, which was little more than a glorified room. Her dining room was her bedroom when her bed was rolled up. Her left wall was occupied by a desk and shelf stacked with books, memorabilia and some baskets of clothes. What looked like sliding doors to another room were where she kept her bed things and some clothes. Kaori was by no means big, but the room looked too small for her (at least in his eyes). The two of them making dinner off a minute counter quickly crowded the space.

Her apartment was drastically different from her old family home near Karasuno, just outside of the city which was a relatively spacious concrete home with wooden floors. The house had a backyard that was the size of a small half court. The house had multiple rooms and a wide receiving area. If Kaori did mind the size of her apartment, she did not show it. In fact, she was almost oblivious.

Once dinner was set, the absent sound of cooking begged to be filled by conversation. They sat down on her table on the tatami floor and began their dinner.

“How’s your birthday so far?” he asked. The table they were eating on was so small for Tsukki that even when his legs were folded and crossed, his knees would still touch Kaori’s toes. He felt conscious about touching her and moved himself back.

Kaori’s teammates had surprised her with some home-baked treats as birthday tokens, but other than that her training went on as usual. She proudly showed off some of the treats and told him a little about each team mate that gave it to her.

“How was your day? ” she asked in return.

“Nothing new,” he shrugged.

“Any ideas for internship plans for your senior year yet?” she asked. Tsukki was aiming to eventually enter a historical or science museum.

Kaori hesitated a bit, “When Okasan was here last weekend, she talked about her retirement plans. She is thinking of retiring in the Kansai region and I might move there after I graduated to be closer to her. I’m a bit concerned if I can get a job there considering our internship will be here.”

“So you’re moving again?” he asked as casually as he could. He could sense his nerves building while remembering Kaori’s last move. He had almost forgotten about that memory.

As far as Tsukki remembered, Kaori had moved a lot when she was in elementary. At one point her family lived overseas because of the nature of her Otoosan’s job. When she entered Junior High, her family moved into the house next to Tsukki’s family home. She stayed there until she abruptly left during their second year of high school which was the last time he saw her before college.

Kaori nodded, “Probably, if I can find a job in the region.”

Tsukki’s facial expression shifted. His face stiffened and then immediately erased any semblance of emotion.

“Is anything the matter?“ she asked, as she looked up from her food. She sensed his tension. She knew he was holding back.

“Nothing, it’s not my place to say. You should do what you like.” he said, shaking his head. He could sense his temper rising.

“Tsukki, I feel like you have something to say.” she said, treading carefully. Tsukki definitely had opinions even if he was quiet most of the time, “Just air it out.”

He put his bowl down unintentionally slamming it onto the table.

“ I can’t believe you’re moving…again! Every time things start to fall into place, you leave.” His voice was brimming with hurt and anger. His eyes were beginning to feel hot. It was taking all his control not to let angry tears roll down his eyes.

Kaori had never seen Tsukki so emotional. He kept trying to hold his outburst down without much success. Whenever he was disappointed or angry, Tsukki was always careful not to show it and now he had just exploded. She was stunned into silence.

“At least this time you’ve said it ahead of time, last time you didn’t even bother to say goodbye.” he said, crossing his arms and avoiding her eyes, “You just left.”

“Tsukki, I wanted to say goodbye. I had prepared to say my goodbyes to everyone -“ Kaori was pleading with her voice.

“You literally said goodbye to all you other friends except me!” he exclaimed with his hands.

Suddenly Tsukki felt like he was sixteen again, sitting in his high school classroom during lunch. He mentions to one his few friends that he had not seen Kaori yet after summer ended. A friend replies that Kaori had moved away during the break. Surprised that Tsukki had not known, his friend asked if Kaori had spoken anything about her move. Tsukki sits on his desk shocked and unable to process what he had just heard. 

Tsukki remembered being asked to walk with Kaori to school on their first day of Junior High. His mother informed him that their new neighbors had a daughter that would be attending the same school.

“Moving to some place is always hard, it would be nice if you can be a friend to the Miyahara girl.” she said.

Tsukki grudgingly obliged to walk her to school on the said day, barely talking to her on the way there. Although he only promised to walk with her on the first day, they somehow left for school almost the same time every day. And so for all three years of Junior High, they walked to school together. Their friendship wasn’t particularly chatty, but Tsukki knew about Kaori’s dream to qualify for the national team for gymnastics and secretly thought it was cool whenever she got invited to selection camps. Kaori learned about Tsukki’s admiration for his older brother who played volleyball and was not surprised to find that he had barely made any friends in his volleyball youth group.

“Tsukki, I think your experience at volleyball would be richer if you made more friends.” she said, looking up to the sky with her hands in her pockets on their way to school, “I wish I could have teammates, you know. In gymnastics even your teammates are your competitors so it can be difficult to find lots of support from them during high pressure moments.”

Some time in their first year at Junior High, Kaori was invited to a selection camp for junior level gymnasts hoping to compete internationally. She found the experience stressful.

“Then why don’t you just join a team?” he asked. That seemed like a pretty obvious solution.

“Coach says I can better polish my individual skills if I work alone. Group routines take longer to choreograph and clean,” she sighed, “Joining a team will require me to learn a different skill set too. We don’t really do teams for individual competitions if you’re qualifying for elite.”

“See even your coach thinks team mates are unnecessary for improvement.” he pointed out.

Kaori retorted that it was because she competed in an individual sport.

“You compete with a team. You can’t compete alone.”

“Whatever, I still think I don’t need to be friends with my team.” he said, shrugging his shoulders.

“It’s like you weren’t listening to what I just said,” she said with her hands on her hips as she stopped walking. Tsukki ignored her and continued strolling to the direction of their school.

“Hey! You can’t just pretend not to hear me.” she exclaimed, with her hands still on her hips.

“Yes, yes I can.” he called out, turning his nose to the sky.

“You can be such a snob sometimes,” she said, her nostrils flaring while running to catch up with Tsukki’s long strides.

Tsukki chuckled on the inside as he walked slower so Kaori could catch up.

They began drifting apart in High School when Tsukki could no longer regularly walk to school with her because he had morning training. Still they tried to keep in touch, Kaori would sometimes go to his games and he would keep tabs on her competition scores. After summer training ended in his second year, he noticed he hadn’t seen the light in their house for a while. He heard about her move at school and hurriedly asked his mother as soon as he got home to confirm if it was true. His mother validated that the Miyahara family moved away because her parents had separated. Kaori would be living with her mother, who got a job somewhere else in another city.

“I was so tired by the end of it all explaining why I was leaving them that when it came to saying goodbye to you, I couldn’t do it anymore. I was so so tired of having to keep explaining a move I didn’t even want. I felt that we had drifted apart and that was excuse enough not to tell you at that time.”

Kaori looked worn. She had not anticipated Tsukki’s reaction. With her back against the wall, she could not decide between letting Tsukki vent or airing her own frustrations about him. She decided to pick up another piece of beef and continued chewing, too tired to do more than ignore the conflict at hand.

“Kaori, we’re next door neighbors. Could you really not have said anything?!” he snapped. His eyes glared at her intently. Tsukki did not have many friends so he felt particularly betrayed by her sudden move.

His last line incensed Kaori. She forcefully stabbed her chopsticks into her bowl of rice and crossed her arms. She couldn’t believe he was laying all the blame on her. Part of the reason they had drifted apart was him too.

“Tsukki, we barely talked during High School. We were both busy and you weren’t making time for me either. Qualifying for Nationals in important and hard work on your end, but you can’t just toss people aside while you compete. You would never even talk to me at school, because you were afraid that people would tease you about it like they did in Junior High. It made me feel like you had outgrown me. Every time I tried to reach out it felt like you were pushing me away.

I know and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I was only thinking of myself. I didn’t think you’d be so affected by my move. ” she said. Tears started welling up in her eyes. He realized too late that he went too far. Kaori was clearly hurt. His anger shifted to guilt.

“I was just so tired, Tsukki. My parents had been fighting all the time for years at that point and they were getting divorced during our first year. I was pretending that everything was alright even if I’ve been wearing thin all of freshman year.” she continued, not meeting his eye. She buried her face in her hands, sighing heavily.

Kaori knew from the moment she decided not to let Tsukki know that it would eventually backfire if they had met again and that moment had definitely arrived.

Tsukki slowly regained his composure. He didn’t mean to yell at her on her birthday. He hadn’t expected that he would be confronting the resentment that he held for her tonight and now that he finally did it his anger was slowly evaporating. He pulled the box of tissue beside him and handed it to her. He hated to cry and he even felt worse that he reduced her to tears.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to lash out.” he sighed, his temper finally cooling. He stood up to make another pot of tea to make himself useful. After adding more cold water and some ice onto her small pitcher of mugi cha, he poured the drink into her cup and gently pushed it towards her.

“I was so hopelessly attracted to you for so long, but I preferred to just shove things down. I liked you so much that I didn’t know how to deal with it when you suddenly left. At the end of the day, you don’t owe me an explanation. You don’t even have to apologize.” he acknowledged, nodding his head.

Kaori was quiet for a long while after that. At a loss at what to do next, Tsukki awkwardly kept eating his dinner in silence. When they were done, he brought out the cake and lit a candle for her to blow. She looked at the cake thoughtfully and waited a bit before she blew it out. She silently cut the cake in half, giving a slice to Tsukki, who started clearing dishes into the sink to make room for dessert.

“Where do we go from here? What do we do now?” she said in a subdued tone, not meeting his eye. Dinner was so still that one could hear the soft clacking of utensils on plates. Tsukki was tempted to wash her dishes to avoid any more conversation.

The two only ever met up every couple of Sundays under the guise of aiming to explore more museums in the area. Any conversation they had were usually related to school work or their current living situation.

“Well…ahh” Tsukki stammered, “We always talk about what we’re doing now, but we haven’t really caught up on the things we’ve done when we were apart….”

He was conscious of his wording as not to put the blame of being away on Kaori, “Do you want to start there?”

What supposedly began as a quick weeknight dinner dragged into the night. Kaori narrated how she was injured through most of her high school gymnastics career from a combination of pacing, stress and growth spurts which made her determined to pursue gymnastics through college so that she could have another chance to rediscover her love for the sport. Since she joined her current team, her training was lighter allowing her to be healthier.

“I’m doing so much better I feel like I’m having a resurgence of sorts. Competitive gymnastics is not really a long term career so to still be doing this now makes me feel so happy,” her eyes glistened as she spoke, “I can’t do all the tricks I used to do but I’m the healthiest I’ve been in a long while.”

She turned around and lifted her shirt a bit to show him her back. It was a slim back with some athletic tape here and there.

“I used to be covered in tape, like it was the only thing holding me together. Now, I feel so much stronger.” Kaori beamed as she talked about her health. Tsukki vaguely remembered a time in High School where she lost her spark for gymnastics.

“I mean if you’ve been in sports rehab for most of High School I should hope you really did come out stronger,” he said, sipping his tea.

Kaori put her shirt back down and patted herself, “That is true, but I don’t expect you to understand since you’ve had a relatively healthy career. What about you?”

Tsukki was slightly taken aback but tried not to show it. He talked about qualifying for nationals all three years of his high school career and how he found his passion for volleyball. In Junior High, he felt like he was only playing because he needed something to do, but that changed during the finals for his first prefectural.

“Nobody thought we could beat Shiratorizawa High because they’ve been unbeatable in the finals at the prefectural level the past three years, even I thought we were going to lose. When I learned how to block his spikes and play against them, we won. That really changed the sport for me. It stopped being just a club. I realized how much I liked playing and winning.”

“It’s still not fun all the time, but it started becoming fun some times.” he added.

Tsukki briefly touched on how he was recruited to play professionally in Division 2, which was a far less exciting story than qualifying for his first Nationals.

Their conversation kept going and they began talking about their future plans for after college. Kaori explained why she was so adamant to be near her mother and how she found it difficult to be away from her so long now that she worked in another region.

“After my parents divorced, I felt very lost. I knew I was a child, but I had no choice but to be an adult. After she started getting part, I was set to start out college and she moved south. I want to get some time with my mom back. It’s very important to me Tsukki.

When she retires, she might not like it here in Japan so she might just move back home to be with the rest of her family. She said she might stay in Japan for a couple of years in her retirement to give it a shot.”

Tsukki stated that he would like to work for a museum and that he was aiming for Sendai City Museum. He wasn’t really sure if that would pan out with his professional contract, but he is quite looking forward it.

The night ended quite late with Tsukki standing just outside her door. He had felt much lighter than when he first stepped foot into her apartment earlier that evening but he also felt more exhausted. Not only was he physically drained, but the emotional weight of the evening was wearing on him.

“If you really want to move to Kansai, I’ll move with you.” he said in all earnestness. Tsukki caught himself after he made his promise, “Depending how things pan out I guess.”

Kaori was caught off guard. It was near impossible to get him to be expressive and vulnerable and here he was promising to plan his future with her.

“What about your career? How will you continue to play volleyball professionally if you move?” she asked, sounding concerned.

“We can talk more about this another time. I don’t have to play professionally. I can just find another league. I’m not sure I can keep playing like this after I do get a normal job.” he shrugged.

“Really?“ she smiled brightly.

“Kaori I just said I would,” he said, raising his eyebrows, his cool had returned after an evening of being unnerved.

“It wasn’t loud enough. Could you say it again? I don’t think I heard you right the first time,” she teased, laughing while cupping her ears closer to him.

“You’ll have to wait another day.” he nodded while tilting his head and turning his back on her, “See you on Sunday.”

—————————————————————————————————————————

Summer (August)

Sendai City

2020

On a rainy August afternoon, the change of weather had finally eased the sizzling pavement of its heat. The unyielding sun and the dry air gave way to a cooler temperature made it an easy enough day to spend under light summer blankets.

Although there was a little bit of sun out, Kaori’s apartment was barely lit. Her curtains were drawn and the lights were off. The only sliver of light in the apartment escaped from a part of her window that could not be covered. The light barely grazed Tsukki’s head, illuminating the strands of his hair.

Despite the darkness, Kaori was aware of exactly where Tsukki was. He was laying on his side atop of her futon bed with a thin blanket covering most of him. She could see the outline of his toned body draped beside her. He had one hand on her waist and another running back and forth her hair and her spine.

“I called Okasan to tell her that I would like to work a bit in Sendai before I move to Kansai. I told her it might be easier to get my start here since I’ll be doing my internship in the area. She must have sensed that I’m seeing someone because she immediately told me to make sure that I put my career ahead of my priorities,“ she sighed her forehead pressed against his throat. She could feel his throat rise and fall as he listened to her.

“She went on a tirade cautioning me about getting into a serious relationship too early. She went on about me being in the age of curiosity - a time to explore what I like and don’t like. Now was not the time to be committing to something I might later regret was what she said.” Kaori murmured, her hand around his neck while she lay across him. She could feel his fingers continually running through her hair and bare back as she talked.

“I’m sure the advice was well-meaning.” he murmured into her ear, his fingers drawing shapes on her hips and lower back.

“Do you think she really knows?” her tone sounded a bit troubled.

Tsukki adjusted his glasses and gently pushed her away to look into her eyes, “She is probably just casting out a wide net honestly. I don’t think it’s anything to be worried about.”

In truth there was probably no repercussion if Kaori’s mother found out she was seeing someone. Kaori was just intensely private about her personal life and she felt mortified at the thought that her mother would know about her relationship.

“Do you ever get curious though?” Kaori asked.

“Curious about what?” said Tsukki, looking somewhat confused. He kicked the blankets down to his feet which were barely covered just because he was just too tall for her blanket. Kaori instinctively covered herself as her blanket slid down. Tsukki, grabbed his jacket from his side and covered her.

“What it’s like to be with other girls? Athletes have lots of fans, right?” she asked, only half paying attention.

Tsukki thought back to incidents with fans. He did remember hearing his name occasionally from the spectators during big matches. There would be girls trying to go up to talk to him every now and then and he opted to ignore them or shake them off.

“I don’t have the time nor the interest to entertain romantically interested fans frankly. Even when there were girls approaching me in high school, I thought it was just annoying,” he said, scratching his head, “I think Yamaguchi would have been a better audience for their attention honestly.”

Yamaguchi was his best friend and teammate from his High School Volleyball Club. One of his pet peeves was that girls would often approach him to ask about Tsukki. Tsukki felt that Yamaguchi was probably more suited to the attention Tsukki received from girls his age.

Tsukki was puzzled by the direction of the conversation especially considering how they had just spent the afternoon together. Just thinking about the intense pleasure he had experienced half an hour ago made tingles up his spine. How could he be thinking about other women during an hour like this?

“Are you actually jealous of my ‘fans’ ?” he smirked, then feigned shock, “I didn’t think you’d ever be the jealous type. My my!”

Kaori punched his ribs.

“You play in a Division 2 league, get over yourself.” she huffed, turning her back on him. Tsukki didn’t even play in the top tier professional league. There were more tiny children asking for his autographs than women shrieking for his attention. “You’re not Kageyama.”

“I’ve known you since we were in Junior High. If I was more curious I think I’d opt to look for someone I didn’t know as well or maybe a flashier girl…maybe I am the country bumpkin simpleton you tease me to be.” he said, “If country bumpkin equates to my lack of attachment to fame and attention.”

He tried to put his arm around her waist to draw her back to him. Kaori instantly swatted his hand away. Tsukki resigned to himself and lay flat on his back with his arms on his head.

“I mean I wasn’t even looking for a relationship, we kind of just stumbled onto each other. I really like you, I do but if we hadn’t been seeing each other I wouldn’t be actively going around searching for someone to date.”

He flipped the question onto her.

“How do you feel about your fans? Are you curious what it would be like to date one of the people cheering for you in the stands.”

“Not really? I mean I feel thankful and respectful for the people cheering me on, but honestly I’ve never thought about being romantically linked to any of them. Liking the same sport is not a good foundation for a relationship.

Also, the majority of gymnastic fans are either hardcore fans of the sport, former gymnasts or families of budding gymnasts. There are very few casual fans looking for a date in the audience, you know?” she said, turning towards him with her arms crossed.

“Oh wow, that’s very balanced of you.” he said.

“Are you not curious?” He asked, suddenly conscious of being her lover.

“Curiosity doesn’t always pay off.” she swiftly answered, “Every guy that has tried to ask me out either looks like trouble or believes me to be a different person from who I am.”

Kaori thought back to the time her friend tried to set her up on a double date with a guy that asked her to be more “kawaii” and lady-like because he felt she was taking too big a bite of her food. The boy thought she would be more attractive if she demurred herself. The experience made her shudder at the audacity of men.

“Does that mean I look like trouble?” he gasped, faking his dramatics.

“No, you’re too anti-social to cause trouble.” she laughed.

“Then are you not content with me?” he followed up.

Kaori quickly paused to think and said, “I am.”

Tsukki moved over closer to her, covering her body with his. Kaori wrapped her arms around his neck as he pressed himself onto her. He could feel her breathing in his skin.

“Then I don’t see what’s the problem.” he said, planting a kiss along her neck


End file.
